7/30/07

I don’t feel very good. I have a summer cold or something. I've been coughing so much that my diaphragm hurts. Yeah, yeah, get all the birth control jokes out of your system now. Ha, ha. So, here’s what happened over the weekend. Saturday morning I got up and went to the shop. John said he’d call if he was going, I think he said something like that, but I went anyway just in case he showed up unexpectedly. Or something, I don’t know. Anyhoo, I get there and find I'm all alone. Oh, I drove Fifi by the way, not that it is important. So, I'm there by myself but don’t feel like working on anything of mine. I consider taking the Seven out for a hoon. I consider taking Mr. Wiggly out for a hoon. I decide to call John to see what his plan is. He’s at the rorty zorst shop having a gas cap welded to his fuel inlet pipe. I know, that sounds crazy, but I don’t believe it was attached to the car at the time. I decide I'm going to get Fifi’s windows tinted and leave. Oh, Gregg was supposed to come get the Locost frame sometime and his boss was going to get Barbara. I called Gregg to see what his plan was but he didn’t answer. I went to the tint shop. The dude’s 1000 h appointment didn’t show so he got me right in. I had the darkest tint allowable done on the three main windows and a strip on the top of the windshield all for $109.00, which I thought was pretty cheap. Mom called to ask if I was available to help Aunt Margaret move a dresser so I said I'd call when the tinting was done. I did and she told me to come on home. When I got there she said Aunt Margaret had found another truck so I was off the hook. We ate grilled cheese and corned beef sandwiches and then I waited to hear from Gregg again. He called and said he was going to blow off putting tires on his trailer, which was what was holding him up, and would meet me at the shop with just the truck. I figured with his truck and Fifi we could move all of the stuff he “bought” from me. We load the jig into the back of his truck and then set the chassis on that. We loaded the rolling thing into the chassis and tied it all off. We left the rear axle and his Z-car engine for a second trip so that I could bring the ¾ ton GMC, henceforth to be called Stinky because it is a diesel, to the shop. We headed across town. We pulled up behind Marty Mary at a stoplight and followed him to AUTOCOMP. We showed him the frame and he showed us some stuff and then we left again. At Gregg's house we, mostly Gregg, moved stuff out of the way of the Z so we could roll it out. We did that. We then unloaded the rolling thing into the garage and the chassis onto the lawn. We set the jig on the rolling thing and then the chassis on the jig. “That sure does look good in my garage,” he said. I agreed. Oh, Big Dave was there as well but since he just had knee surgery he was even less help than me. Not that I'm complaining! I knew the job was dangerous when I took it, Fred. We secured the area and went to Pearl Harbor, I mean Harbor Fright, I mean Harbor Freight to buy an engine hoist so Gregg could unload the Z-car engine after we went to get it. I got to drive Stinky. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. With the five-speed, or more like four-speed with a Granny-Gear first, the thing actually would accelerate. I was, well, impressed might be a bit too strong a word, but I was not disappointed. It was actually kind of fun to drive. We got the hoist and then ate some barbecue next door and were off to my shop. They left me behind as I caught every light red. At the Alta Mesa/Dirks Road light, it was all I could do to get it into gear when the light changed. I was a bit worried. I got it to the shop and told Gregg. He had mentioned the clutch needing work soon so it wasn’t that big a surprise to either of us. We loaded the Z-car engine and Camaro rear axle into the back of his truck and rolled Barbara into the main bay. I parked Stinky in the spot vacated by Barbara and locked everything up. I asked if they needed me to follow them back to help with the unloading but they said they could handle it with the new hoist. I was glad because I was getting tired. Remember, I'm sick and all? Ok, so Sunday I watch a few DVDs while waiting for mom to come home from church. She does and we decide to go to Don Pablo’s for lunch. After lunch I take a nap then go to the shop. I hop in Stinky and head for the Motorsport Ranch to see if Ray might know of anyone who wants or needs Stinky. The clutch feels fine and drops right into gear. I stop at the Exxon at 377 and 1187 to fill up. I stop filling at $75.00, which was right around 25 gallons of fuel. I'm not sure how much more it would have held either. I headed back out to the Ranch. I find Ray and he starts telling me that he wants to sell all of his toys. He mentions a BMW motorcycle and I say I'd be interested in that. I avoid the collection of Datsuns for now. He says he only wants $3,500.00 for the bike and I hand him the keys to Stinky. I tell him that is what I want out of the truck and offer to trade. He says he does need another tuck for moving trailer at the Ranch and has a look. We go for a spin and he says he’ll have to think it over. I figured that would be the case. He gives me a pump for the oil drum and I'm on my way north again. I park Stinky and hop back into Fifi to go home. Well, that gets y'all caught up on what happened to me over the weekend. We’ll see if Gregg's dude comes for Barbara next week or if I need to get her running and move her to the house. I'll keep y'all informed, probably.